Manama, April 21: A leading Bahraini human rights activist, Mohammad al-Maskati, says Manama subjects critics to harsh torture techniques to silence them.
Mohammad al-Maskati, who heads the Manama-based Youth Society on Human Rights, told Media in an interview that any kind of torture is against the Convention Against Torture — which Bahrain ratified in 1998 and prohibits torture and ill-treatment under any circumstances.
Bahrain’s envoy to the US has downplayed allegations of torture against oppositionists as reports accuse Manama of mistreatments ranging from beating to sexual abuse.
“If we torture in Bahrain, it is just a little bit,” said Bahrain’s envoy to the US, Houda Ezra Ebrahim Nonoo, on Tuesday.
“All the time we hear of allegations of torture. So we ask the ambassador that what kind of torture do they use. And we ask the international organization to send a fact-finding mission to Bahrain and start an investigation on the nature of torture,” al-Maskati stated.
He said the kind of torture being done is not only now that the crackdown is taking place, referring to a report by the Human Rights Watch (HRW) about torture in Bahrain in 2010.
Al-Maskati said that they have documented complaints about tortures such as electric shock, beating and sexual threats in prisons.
Reports also indicate that Bahraini security forces send threatening messages to anti-government activists as part of their efforts to repress protests that demand the ouster of ruling Al Khalifa family.
The HRW has reportedly called on the Bahraini government to disclose the whereabouts of detainees, permit them to contact their families and lawyers, and open detention centers to independent inspection.
The HRW on April 13 called on Bahrain’s public prosecutor to hold accountable anyone found responsible for torture, ill-treatment, or denial of medical care.
——–Agencies